Sep 14

Neofonie and 4tiitoo WeTab hands-on (update)

Posted in: hands-on, meego, tablet, tablets, Today's Chili, video

We’ll be honest: the first time we heard a company named Neofonie was making a tablet, we figured someone was up to no good… but having just experienced the 11.6-inch MeeGo machine for ourselves at IDF 2010, however, we think it’s safe to say we were dead wrong. The WeTab may not have pinch-to-zoom (yet) but we never missed it once while browsing webpages and tiled apps on the large capacitive screen, using one of the most intuitive, practical touchscreen interfaces we’ve ever had the pleasure to try. Get a brief glimpse at the device in our gallery below, and find more after the break.

Update: Though the internet at large has reported for ages now that the tablet’s made by Neofonie, that’s not quite correct. As it turns out, a company named 4tiitoo is responsible for the fancy UI, and the hardware itself (like the ExoPC) are actually made by Pegatron.

Update 2: Extended impressions (and video!) after the break.

Gallery: Neofonie WeTab hands-on

Continue reading Neofonie and 4tiitoo WeTab hands-on (update)

Neofonie and 4tiitoo WeTab hands-on (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 14

Nokia hires Peter Skillman, former Palm Design VP, as MeeGo user experience chief (update: confirmed)

Posted in: meego, nokia, palm, Today's Chili, ui

Now this, this is what we call exciting. Nokia has managed to scoop up Peter Skillman from the wreckage of the HP/Palm merger. One of the many senior VPs to leave Palm upon its assimilation into the HP empire, Peter spent 11 years with his previous employer and was in charge of the design team that produced the deliciously curvaceous Palm Pre. Now at Nokia, he’ll be heading up the user experience and services division for MeeGo, which means that if you weren’t excited for the platform already, you’ve now got a very good reason to be.

Update: We met with Marko Ahtisaari, Senior Vice President of Design at Nokia, to get comment on this story. His response? “Right, I just hired him.” So why not announce it, we asked, this is pretty big news? According to Marko, “We have products today, products are more interesting. Peter is looking after the user experience design of MeeGo and services and is a great new addition to the team.” Marko’s team, to be specific. To us this seems like another component that could help Nokia break into the US market with MeeGo.

[Thanks, Dave]

Continue reading Nokia hires Peter Skillman, former Palm Design VP, as MeeGo user experience chief (update: confirmed)

Nokia hires Peter Skillman, former Palm Design VP, as MeeGo user experience chief (update: confirmed) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 07

Amino launches Freedom over-the-top video set-top box, challenges Google TV to arm wrestle

Posted in: 1080p, dvr, Google, GoogleTv, meego, os, set-top-box, streaming video, StreamingVideo, Today's Chili

If the AppleTV announcement didn’t satiate your need for a Google TV set-top box battle royal, then new details about Amino’s Freedom box might do the trick. Yes it still packs the same hardware announced back in 2009 such as an Intel CE4100m Atom Processor, 500 GB of internal storage, SD card support, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11n and 1 GB of RAM. We’ve now discovered however that it’ll also run its own Amino branded version of Nokia’s MeeGo OS, adding apps and gaming support to its list of capabilities that already included 1080p playback, VOD streaming, and DVR recording. In other words there’s going to be a new Google TV competitor on the block sometime before the end of this year looking for a fight. Whether it’ll provide a Lincoln Hawk-worthy performance though is something we’ll let the bookies squabble over until we can go hands on with both.

[Thanks, Hary]

Amino launches Freedom over-the-top video set-top box, challenges Google TV to arm wrestle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 06

WeTab tablet spotted running MeeGo at IFA

Posted in: meego, tablet, Today's Chili, video
Remember the WeTab? Or the WePad, perhaps? While we can’t say we had much confidence in ever seeing the tablet again after a seemingly endless series of false starts and delays, it has turned up at IFA, and with something of a surprise no less — it’s running a customized version of MeeGo. Those customizations look to keep things mostly in line with the interface we saw during the device’s WePad days, but it does seem to be a bit more responsive, and is seemingly in a nearly final state. Of course, it’s not quite final enough to avoid another delay — it’s now apparently set to roll out in “late September.” Head on past the break to check it out in action.

Continue reading WeTab tablet spotted running MeeGo at IFA

WeTab tablet spotted running MeeGo at IFA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 03

New official MeeGo screenshots show promise, influence

Posted in: intel, meego, nokia, Screenshots, Today's Chili, ui

MeeGo’s official user interface guidelines could easily end up determining whether the platform sinks or swims — no one wants a phone whose UI looks like junk, after all. The minions at Nokia and Intel’s little pet project have posted new OS shots as examples of how to properly implement the interface in third-party apps, and we’ve got to admit — things are looking a lot cleaner, prettier, and generally more modern than the first round of pictures we saw back in June, thanks in part to a demonstration of the platform’s comprehensive theming capability that can totally revamp how UI elements look. We’re definitely seeing shades of webOS in the task switcher (pictured above), but then again, Nokia’s no stranger to borrowing ideas it likes. That’s all well and good as long as it makes for a great platform… and obviously, we’d need some hardware to do that. O N9, where art thou?

New official MeeGo screenshots show promise, influence originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 24

Nokia and Intel build a joint research lab, plan to create the mobile 3D future

Posted in: intel, meego, nokia, partnership, research, Today's Chili

Thought Nokia and Intel’s partnership was just some fleeting MeeGo fling? Just a carefree hookup in their times of mobile panic? Not quite. The companies are certainly in this thing for the long haul and today’s announcement of their new research lab in Oulu, Finland is all the evidence you’ll need. The Intel and Nokia Joint Innovation Center — as it’s been dubbed — is part of the University of Oulu and will now be home to about two-dozen researchers. What exactly will the white coats be working on? Well, the 3D mobile internet, of course, technology that Nokia’s been dabling with for awhile. The focus of the initial work will be on three-dimensional virtual reality platforms as well as on mapping. Sounds pretty neat and futuristic, but for some reason all we can keep thinking about is the immediate future of getting our hands on Nokia’s MeeGo-running N9. Hit the break for the full press release and a few more details on the lab itself.

Continue reading Nokia and Intel build a joint research lab, plan to create the mobile 3D future

Nokia and Intel build a joint research lab, plan to create the mobile 3D future originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 22

Pay no attention to that playful UI behind the Google Maps curtain (video)

Posted in: Android, meego, Today's Chili, ui, video

Thought the page-turning Macallan was nifty? You ain’t seen nothing yet — The Astonishing Tribe (the brains behind the look of Android) aims to give you billowing, rippling cloth-like curtains of clever interactive content with their concept Velvet UI. Pull out a widget or Google Maps query, and a sheet of your desired result waves with the virtual wind, before stretching out flat for you to more comfortably interact with. Running on MeeGo (and apparently possible on Android) it’s built with the company’s proprietary UI framework, so don’t expect it to hit tablets anytime soon unless someone throws them some bucks. Also see: TAT’s other impressive concepts. Video after the break.

Continue reading Pay no attention to that playful UI behind the Google Maps curtain (video)

Pay no attention to that playful UI behind the Google Maps curtain (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 19

Nokia’s QWERTY-slidin’ N9 shows up in the wilds of China (update: running MeeGo!)

Posted in: breaking news, BreakingNews, in the wild, InTheWild, leak, meego, nokia, qwerty, QwertySlider, slider, Today's Chili


Remember this scandalous little leak from back in June? It looks to have been validated today, as imagery of Nokia’s MeeGo (or is it Symbian^4?)-powered N9 QWERTY slider has emerged over in China. As usual with these things, we can’t be certain that this device is in fact part of Nokia’s roadmap and not just another creative hardware emulation, but it sure seems to have our old buddy Eldar Murtazin convinced. Seeing it with clear N9 branding, we can now say that the previously unknown Nokia slider was more likely the N8-01, a keyboard-equipped version of the (still) upcoming N8. The source of this N9 leak reports that it’s not in its final retail shape, as it doesn’t match up to “the latest drawings,” but is apparently planned for a release in the 48th week (i.e. beginning of December) of this year. The prototype, built in Finland, is said to have an entirely metallic construction (more aluminum would be our guess), with only the keyboard buttons, USB cover, and a few decorative parts being plastic. See more of it, including a thorough teardown, in the gallery below.

Update: A friendly mole of ours ran this handset’s serial number through an internal Nokia system and has confirmed it as a Nokia prototype. He was also able to uncover an RM-680 product type classification (further distancing this from the RM-626 slider) and a 0595571 product code. Add those to the “Prototype Build B2” and “Property of Nokia” labeling inside the phone’s battery compartment, and you’ve got yourself a very strong candidate for the real deal here.

Update 2: A closer look at the display reveals that this is running something that bears a heavy resemblance to the MeeGo screens we’ve seen so far — and if you run the product code through Google, you see some Maemo 6-related bug tracking results, which of course has since become MeeGo. Good stuff, eh? Thanks, Sockatume!

Gallery: Nokia’s QWERTY-slidin’ N9 shows up in the wilds of China?

Continue reading Nokia’s QWERTY-slidin’ N9 shows up in the wilds of China (update: running MeeGo!)

Nokia’s QWERTY-slidin’ N9 shows up in the wilds of China (update: running MeeGo!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 06

Nokia’s VP talks N8, MeeGo ‘milestone product,’ tablets, Android and more!

Posted in: Android, interview, lte, meego, netbooks, nokia, smartphone, Today's Chili, WiMAX

Nokia’s prepping for a fourth quarter launch of its MeeGo smartphone. The N8 will hit before the end of Q3. The company’s absolutely not planning to use Android and a tablet isn’t happening anytime soon. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the stuff we learned this morning during our captivating chat with Niklas Savander, Espoo’s executive vice president and general manager of the Markets unit. With its quarterly profits dropping and losing daily (in mindshare, at least) to the Apples, HTCs and Motorolas of the world, we were certainly not lacking questions when we headed into the meeting, and Savander took on our questions about Nokia’s short and long term plans with stride. We’ve got the key points of the interview bulleted out after the break — and the full transcript after that.

Continue reading Nokia’s VP talks N8, MeeGo ‘milestone product,’ tablets, Android and more!

Nokia’s VP talks N8, MeeGo ‘milestone product,’ tablets, Android and more! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 05

Nokia’s app development strategy: Qt, Qt, Qt (video)

Posted in: app, apps, developers, meego, nokia, symbian, Today's Chili, video

Been wondering about Nokia’s strategy for conquering the rapidly expanding app space? Great! So were we, which is why we joined up with a recent dev event carried out by the Finnish company for an update on how and where things are going. It’s a familiar narrative by this point: Qt is all set to become the way that Nokia-friendly apps are made — whether it be for Symbian smartphones or MeeGo-powered mobile computers, coffee machines or infotainment consoles. Nokia did stress that its developer workflow has also been streamlined dramatically, and promised coders a better distilled experience that treats their time and money like the valuable commodities that they are. It’s an encouragingly frank discussion of where things have gone wrong in the past and how Espoo intends to remedy them in the future, and we’ve got it all on video for you after the break — no reading required!

Continue reading Nokia’s app development strategy: Qt, Qt, Qt (video)

Nokia’s app development strategy: Qt, Qt, Qt (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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